It's heartbreaking that a parent would rather
their child in a glass box with a mask on for
eight hours a day. You know, it just, I mean,
you remember I cried a lot. It was painful. And
I just, I just couldn't understand it. And even
though it was even more painful to be bombarded
with nasty emails and being yelled at in my face
about how dare I not protect the kids, I knew.
based on all the people I was speaking to, the
science, the real science, the doctors, you know,
the people that were actually studying this in
a different way, that what I was doing was actually
keeping them safe. Thank you for being on our
podcast. Today we have Layla Centner, founder
of Centner Academy, and happens to be my wife
of 11 years, 11 -ish, yeah. And you've been a
victim of cancellation on two separate occasions.
This is the place you want to be because this
is where you can have your story be told. So
just for starters, before we get into the entire
story, is there anything at all that you would
have done differently that might not have landed
you on this show in the first place? Well, I
think now that I know what I know about Zoom.
I might have like done an in -person meeting
or something. There you go. Because, you know,
they did take my message out of context. And
they did only snip the parts that, you know,
made me look, you know, not so great. And they
didn't put all the rest of the, you know, that
made me look softer and more loving. Sure. They
kind of made me look like a dictator. Zoom bad.
Zoom very bad. You know, Leila, we talk on the
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What in the world prompted you to want to create
a school in the first place? I have to start
with that. I don't know. I don't know. You know,
I come up with these crazy ideas, and you're
such an amazing, supportive husband that we just
roll with it. But, of course, the reality is,
you know, we had a little girl, and we toured
all the schools, and we saw that there wasn't
anything good enough. And so we do what good
entrepreneurs do, right? We decided let's just
create our own. So take me back. When was this?
What time period are we talking about? I mean,
it was two. Yeah, I do. Seven years ago. Yeah.
We toured the best schools in New York. And we
were like, wow, if this is the best, then we
can do much better. I remember well. Yeah. And
I remember asking you, you know, hey, you're
a native to Miami. You were born here. Why not
go back to your hometown? I remember that day.
You were excited about it. You're like, you know
what? I could do that. I could be back in Miami.
I would have wanted to do that for a really long
time. There's a special place in my heart for
Miami. Always will, in spite of everything. I
will always have a place in my heart for Miami.
So this is like seven years ago. You and your
husband, me, moved down to Miami with the intention
to start a school. So what is seven years ago?
That's like 2017, 2018. Yes. Okay. And what was
the initial vision for the school? Because I
was interested in what's... What you have today
is very, very different from the original idea.
You like to say I did scope creep? Creeping scope.
Creeping scope. The initial idea was a small
school with maybe 50 kids, one building, you
know, of her closest friends. It was really all
about her at the time. Preschool. Just something
small. And once we got into it and COVID hit.
And our eyes started opening. Well, no, I don't
want to get to COVID yet. Okay. Yeah. But, you
know, once we got into it, then we realized it's
not just about our kids. It became about a bigger
mission to help make this world a better place
through education. Okay. So that's how my scope
creeped. And just creeping scope. So where generally
in Miami? What do you have? How many campuses?
How many students? Just give us a little context.
Three campuses, over 330 students, as well as
a baby brain building where we have mommy and
me classes. It's a great feeder program to our
preschool. These kids are learning from three
months old different exercises, baby exercises
to strengthen their brain. Help them creep and
crawl and all the great stuff that babies should
be doing. Okay, so as I understand it, we bought
another school. In February of 2020, is that
right? January 2020. January 2020. And what kind
of school was that? How many parents were there?
How many students were there? It was a school
that had 260 kids. We had about 15, 20 kids of
our own. And so we became about 280 combined.
And two months later. COVID hit three months
later. And we saw it early. We put together a
little working committee because we saw this
could be something. So we met regularly. And
then all hell broke loose in March of 2020, right?
First to go online because we didn't know what
was going on. So what did you do? I mean, that's
really cool. How did that happen, like, so fast?
Well, you were a big part of it. Since I have
a technology background, you helped us assemble
really quickly. We did. And put the tools together
to be able to right away have online classes.
We might have been the first school in the entire
country to go fully remote. Everything happened,
like, on a Thursday, and, like, by Monday morning,
we were fully ready, tech stack. Everything ready
to go. I'm really, really proud of that. Right?
We did because we didn't know. We didn't know
what we know today. Yeah. So we wanted to be
careful. Yeah. But then as time went by, pretty
quickly, something didn't feel right to you.
Right? Tell me about that. Something just didn't
feel right in general because I could tell that
there were different parts of the country doing
different things. And there were different parts
of the world that... We had such different rules.
And I thought, if this is truly something that
is going to wipe us out, how is it that there's
such difference in opinions, difference in rules,
difference in regulations? So I remember having
a conversation with a parent and she said, listen,
you know, you might want to look into Bill Gates
a little. Study Bill Gates. And that's when I
went online and I started digging, you know,
the alternative media. And I don't know if you
remember the day I came to you and I said, honey,
I think there's a bigger problem here. And it's
not COVID. And you first thought I was a little
crazy. And you didn't want to hear it. That's
true. Sometimes it takes men a little bit longer
to come to realize these things. Yeah, you know,
you're a very data -driven guy, so you wanted
more facts, more data. And I think I had given
you something finally where you're like, okay,
now I'm listening. I don't even remember what
that was. But that was the point when both of
us realized. And it didn't take long, though.
It took me about 30 days, and it just took you
maybe another 30 days. So within 60 days, we
were both going, okay. Yeah. Something else is
up. So, I mean, COVID was obviously extraordinarily
disruptive for every single person on the entire
planet. The schools, that was a different matter
entirely. So, Center Academy was open or closed
at this time. It's funny because when you just
said schools, I have, like, can you see my arm
here? I do. Standing straight. Yeah. Because
schools are supposed to be our safe place. And
I really believe in my heart and soul that...
schools hurt children the most. And even just
thinking that, I get emotional because I don't
understand to this day how so many adults had
the audacity to put kids in a plexiglass, in
a little glass cage, to make kids cover their
face the entire day, to not breathe fresh oxygen.
to make kids go outside in 100 -degree weather
and run in a mask. And, you know, you saw on
alternative media where there were kids passing
out, which wasn't shown on regular mainstream
media. So for me, it was really a heartbreaking
time that I just didn't understand how our world,
especially the adults who are here to protect
children, hurt them the most by blindly following.
what, you know, some goonies and the CDC basically
told these people to do with, you know, a 200
-page document that says, you know, kids need
to walk six feet apart, you know, or they have
to be behind plexiglass. Like, where did you
come from and who made you God? It seems so arbitrary
to you. To me, it was so arbitrary. And it was
more arbitrary how many... Even at our school
at the time, how many other intelligent people
were pressuring me to follow those rules? I want
to go back just a little bit because school was
closed. School was closed. We closed. We closed.
But not exactly. Well, not exactly, yes. Tell
me. Well, you know, we weren't going to completely
close when we figured out this was a sham. We
opened up a little school at our home. That's
right. We kept it going. We did. About 15 of
us. Teachers came over. Yeah. Kids had a great
time. Summer school hit. And, you know, all the
schools were shut down for summer, which I didn't
understand why because the data was out. Like,
I think this is where you got excited because
you saw the data as well. Kids were not impacted
by it. Kids were not impacted. You were next
to me when I got on the phone to a chief pediatrician.
to a chief pediatrician at one of the hospitals,
children's hospitals, and he gave me all the
data. And kids were not dying from this. It was
99 .997 % something like that. I can't remember
the exact numbers, but I think at the time it
was like 3 ,000 children's cases and only three
kids had passed away. Many comorbidities. They
had comorbidities and they were obese and they
had all these issues. And so I'm like, so there
is no problem for kids, right? And his answer
was, well, you know, you really got to follow
the CDC. And it's like, ah, like how blind could
you be? You're looking at the data yourself and
you're still ignoring it. And in the process,
harming kids. I mean, there are so many kids
with speech delays to this day because of not
being able to see adults' mouths when they're
learning how to talk. Can you imagine two years
old? And your job as a two -year -old is to read
lips. Like that's, you read facial expression.
And for two years, especially in places like
New York, you don't get to see lips. It's really
had a huge impact. It's had a huge impact on
our children. It's had a huge impact on our future.
And the thing that always gets me is the fact
that intelligent PhDs, doctors, you know, all
sorts of intelligent adults decided it was okay.
The summer of 2020 went by, and then our school
opened up, right? And we were actually maybe
the first school in the country that opened up.
Well, not only did we reopen up, but in August,
a month sooner, we opened up with teacher training.
And that was also very controversial. Why? Because
adults were afraid to be in the room with other
adults. Even though the data had been out by
then, right? Like if you really, really wanted
to analyze this, you knew that you were safe
if you were a healthy person. And if you didn't
have a lot of comorbidities and, you know, if
you weren't obese, like the data was out. But
people were still listening to the media and
they were panicked. And so we had teacher training
where half the teachers had masks on and the
other half didn't. And there was drama from day
one of the people that were living in fear and
the people that weren't. And, you know, we opened.
We had no issues. Not one teacher passed away
from COVID. Not one of our students. You know,
of course, there were family members that people's
grandfather or, you know, elderly or somebody
who was obese in their family are already very
sick. Yeah, they've had some of those deaths.
But young, healthy people were just not dying.
And so when we started school year in September
2020, it was even more drama. because parents
were very unhappy that teachers were not wearing
a mask. And I'd say to these parents, like, where's
the science behind the mask? Can you imagine
being a teacher trying to talk for eight hours
a day, not breathing in oxygen? Can you imagine
that? Like, it's hard enough to teach 18 kids
in a room with all that energy, all that enthusiasm.
And you already have to yell. Can you imagine
trying to yell in a mask like this? It just doesn't
work. And yet parents think because the media
said or the politicians said everybody needs
to wear a mask that that's what should happen.
And I really went against it. And I said, I'm
not doing it. Because for me, what was important
was that I did what's right for the kids. And
I did what's right for the teachers. And there
were a lot of teachers who were like, I can't
breathe in this mask. I have asthma. I have issues,
you know, and I'm exhausted within an hour of
teaching. And because there was nothing to back
up that the masks were actually helping, not
to mention I brought in a doctor and I brought
in some scientists to actually explain the science
behind the masks, I basically gave them the option.
I'm super happy about it. Yeah, you didn't make
these decisions in a vacuum. You went deep on
the research. You consulted a lot of people,
and you brought in experts. You brought in experts
from OSHA. I did. I brought in OSHA experts.
By the way, you know, we could even find a clip
and air that if you want to insert it in here
a little bit later. Yeah, maybe. That's actually,
we should find that. That's some great footage.
We brought in OSHA experts. that actually said
that if this was done pre -COVID, employers would
be fined majorly for asking their employees to
wear a mask and breathe carbon dioxide all day
long. Like she said, that would have been illegal.
Not to mention all the bacteria accumulation.
All the bacteria that accumulates. These kids,
they drop the masks on their floor. They put
it on their face. Like it's just, it's not what
surgeons do. You know, you can't equate it the
same way. A surgeon goes in, he has his mask
on, he does his surgery to make sure he's not
spitting in an open wound, and when he's done
with the surgery, the mask goes off. He doesn't
even put his own mask on. His nurse puts it on
him. He doesn't even touch his own mask. Yet
it's okay for us to be slobbering all over our
masks for eight hours a day, dropping them on
the floor, putting them back on our face, dirty
cloth masks. That's somehow... Going to protect
people. So there was a lot of controversy later.
But before then, there was like a revolt within
the school and the parents. This was a gradual
buildup to all the controversy that you experienced.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, remember, we had
bought the school. So we hadn't cultivated our
culture yet. The school that we bought, we did,
you know, to this day, we have some amazing families
that are still with us. But we also had a lot
of people who were very, very pro -COVID vaccine,
pro -mask, pro -lockdown, pro -everything. And
so there was a lot of unhappiness around all
the things that I was doing and started with
the masks. So I remember just every time somebody
complained about... feeling unsafe, I would let
them out of the contract. I probably let 15 people
out of the contract just because of the masks.
Say, look, if you don't feel safe, I don't want
you here. I want you to be where you feel safe.
In fact, I'll never, ever forget a mom who brought
in a plexiglass for us to have her daughter carry
it from class to class. And we're like, I'm sorry,
we're not going to do that, but we're happy to
let you out of the contract. You know, it just,
to me, it was heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking
that a parent would rather their child in a glass
box with a mask on for eight hours a day. You
know, it just, I mean, you remember I cried a
lot. It was painful. And I just couldn't understand
it. And even though it was even more painful
to be bombarded with nasty emails and being yelled
at in my face about how dare I not protect the
kids. I knew, based on all the people I was speaking
to, the science, the real science, the doctors,
you know, the people that were actually studying
this in a different way, that what I was doing
was actually keeping them safe. Yeah, I mean,
one thing that I really admire about you is These
little kids are with you in your facilities for
many, many hours a day, you know, arguably more
waking hours than they are with their families.
And so you took that responsibility in an enormous
way to create not just a safe and a healthy way,
but their happiness as well. Yeah. You know?
Yeah, I mean, I'll never forget during those
days. You know, I would be walking into the lunchroom
or something and all the kids would run up to
me and give me hugs. You know, they were just,
they were so happy that I was not tying them
down. Like they just, sometimes I'd have like
20 kids at once hug me during COVID. Wow, you
love that. I know you do. I loved it. Yeah. I
love that. Do you love it to this day? I mean,
it's cute, you know, and they're sweet and all
they want, all they want is to be happy. All
they want is to, you know, to be free. Like we
can't take a child and lock them up in a cage
and say we're here, which we're protecting you.
It's not. So toward the end of 2020, Operation
Warp Speed, is that the name of it? Was the vaccine,
was they getting ready to release this thing
in like record time? December 2020? Yeah, right
around then. And I think it was, was it released
in December or January? Right around then. It
was released in December. And I knew that. We
needed to get the other side, the information
on the other side out. Meaning what? I don't
know if you remember, but we brought in Bobby
Kennedy. Yes. Literally January of 2021. Actually
might not be a bad idea to insert a little clip
of that. Okay. But he basically, you know, we
sat our teachers, our parents, anybody who wanted
to listen. We didn't, of course, force it. We
probably had 100 people in that room. And I'll
never forget people walking out of that room
going, oh, my goodness. He's very articulate
in the ability to awaken people to an alternative
perspective. We hold on to our beliefs so tightly,
you know. So cancellation is not just when the
media or mainstream media does something to you.
The parents had a very active part in cancellation
as well. There were parents that were more than
happy to speak to the media. There were parents
that we saw on TV that had their hair and makeup
done. You know? We had parents that was on multiple
occasions was on TV. They were, like, really
into it. I'll never forget the one mom. I don't
know if you remember this lady. She's, like,
in the school, and she doesn't let the kids eat
sugar. I remember. And I'm, like, what's wrong
with that? Yeah. And this particular mom, she
did not let her kid for one second be without
a mask. And it was heartbreaking. Her kid was
maybe six years old. You know, imagine being
six years old for eight hours a day with that
stinky, dirty mask on your face. For fear of
getting in trouble for taking the mask off with
their parents. Yeah. We had also other kids that,
you know, would put on their mask coming into
school. And the second they got in school, they
would take their mask off because they knew that
we weren't going to tell them anything. And they
felt free, you know, but they had their mask
on because they did it for their kids. It seems
like so long ago, yet it's really like yesterday.
It was intense. That was a very intense period.
It was very emotional. I mean, I think it was
the biggest life challenge that I've ever had.
I don't know how you feel about it. But I feel
like, you know, it was a really punch in the
face, like being punched multiple times in the
face, but also realizing that, okay, God's serving
me this for a reason. I decided to stand up to
people a lot bigger than me. And so what am I
going to do? I'm not going to lay down. I'm going
to fight back. And how did I do it? You remember
I had my meditation coach. I had my rabbi, you
know, I had all my spiritual support on the phone,
you know, almost every day. Just, okay, like,
you know, help me breathe through this. Like,
you know, you know, just to be able to navigate
the punches and knowing that as long as we stood
in our truth or, you know, especially me, because
I was the one pushing it, that I was going to
come out stronger. And even though like at the
moment I had a lot of black eyes, that I knew
that the other side of it would be a lot more
beautiful and that I would keep these kids safe.
And to this day, I have kids come up to me and
give me the biggest hugs and say thank you for
not forcing me to wear a mask during COVID. I
have parents coming up to me to this day thanking
me because their kids had a normal, their kids
felt normal during COVID when other kids. had
increase in anxiety, their friends would have
increase in depression. Like they would see the
impact that COVID had on their friends' kids.
And then they saw their kids and how resilient
and how strong they came through it because of
the environment that we together really, because
you were very supportive of me at the time. And
I couldn't have done it without your support
either. Because you would get punched right with
me. You were the serial tech entrepreneur, anti
-vaxxer. And, you know. Reluctant activist. Yes.
Reluctant activism. But I couldn't have done
it without you either. Imagine if you were mad
at me for this. Like, I could fight the media,
but imagine if I had to fight my husband. I remember.
I don't know if I'd be able to do it. I probably
would have surrendered and said, you know what,
I can't do this because, like, my work isn't.
I don't think so. I think you would have kept
going. Yeah. Sure. So I remember. So we were
approached by the media a lot at that point.
New York Times, Vanity Fair, Miami Herald, Anderson
Cooper, Stuart Varney. I mean, Good Morning America.
Good Morning America was one of my favorites.
You want to tell us? You remember Varney? Inside
joke, yeah. She couldn't remember his name, and
she thought his first name was Varney. And she
was interviewed, and he's like rapid fire. And
she's like, Varney this, Varney that. And when
she's done, she's like, I thought that went pretty
well. You know, you called him Varney six times,
by the way. His name is Stewart. No, but Good
Morning America, do you remember that one? Yeah.
Oh, yeah. We still have it on our phone somewhere.
Yeah. You share. I mean, we had a great interview
with them. Great interview. On the rooftop of
our preschool. They did not show one minute.
We were so, we were so, this was like day two
of everything blowing up. And you and I were
on the rooftop of our preschool. It was a beautiful
playground. And we were so calm and poised and
articulate and heart -led. And it's like a 30,
45 -minute interview. We couldn't show one minute
of that, not one minute. And then we had an interview
like the next day with MSNBC. I won't say her
name. Oh, God. She was the worst. She just tried
to get you all riled up. And remember the VARS
thing? Vaccine Adverse Injury Reporting System.
And she's like, where do you get your data from?
Like, well, you know, the VARS system, which
is a government -created system for logging and
cataloging adverse events from vaccine administration,
you know, blah, blah, blah. And we're like, ah,
you get it from VARS. And we learned in that
moment that we need to... We cannot do live.
We cannot do recorded things anymore because
she's just going to slice and dice that thing
to make her look great and make you look foolish.
And at that moment, we decided we have to have
everything in writing, all questions in writing
from everybody. Although I think today we would
be able to handle more live. I think so. Even
recorded. I think so. Because really. Even if
you think about it, the interview the day before,
we handled it well. She was just nasty. She was
out to get you. She was out to get me. Yeah.
I still wish. You know, we had a PR firm at the
time, and everything was glowing up. I can see
if he wants to. Varney? So Cooper. Oh. Yeah.
We turned him down. Yeah. I think we should.
Yeah. He's still interested. Sure. Okay. See
what he thinks. Anderson, if you're out there.
He was. She's available. Yeah. I'm ready for
you. She's ready for you. So we had a PR firm
at the time, and she's like, look, I do schools
and restaurants. I don't do global media crises.
You guys need a crisis PR firm. So we got somebody
who were fast learners, right? They whipped us
into shape, and then we tried to take control
of the narrative as much as we could. I think
it turned out pretty decently. So we were in
the... Well, they really, even when they had
good interviews, they just wouldn't air it. They
got good interviews from our teachers, from some
of our admin team, and they wouldn't air it.
No. I mean, how is that fair to have one -sided
information? Isn't it right? They have an angle.
Yeah. You know, in general, I'm generalizing
a they. But, you know, a lot of mainstream media
seems to have an angle, you know. So let's fast
forward because then there was round two. Yeah.
Round two of conspiracy, or controversy, rather.
When was that, the second round? Well, let's
go back to round one because we didn't finish
that part of the story. Okay. So by April of
2021, we already had... The renewal contract.
Oh, yes. For the next year. Yes. Okay. Yeah.
So by the time the media hit, basically I had
a rush of parents wanting to cancel their contracts.
Just give us some percentages or quantities.
Gosh. Must have avoided over 40 contracts. A
million dollars worth of contracts. How many?
And you just said, here you go. We're not at
the right place for you. Hi. Wanted to meet each
parent face -to -face to hear why they wanted
out, which was all the same reasons. They weren't
aligned with me. They didn't believe in what
I was doing. They believed that not only should
all the teachers get the vaccine, but their kids
should get it as soon as it's allowed for kids.
And I wanted to look them in the eyes, and I
wanted to hear them say it. And then I'm all
about money and energy exchange. And because
they didn't want to be there and they didn't
feel aligned, I didn't want them to be there.
So I was happy to let them out. And that's what
I did. And we had dropped from, I don't know,
280 kids down to 70, 80. But I didn't know the
tidal wave on the other side that was about to
hit. But how many teachers did you lose? Oh,
my God. Yeah, I forgot about that part. We literally...
So we had all of our teachers had been signed
up until that point. So recruiting was done.
Literally overnight, our entire elementary school
teachers from first through eighth grade, I think
maybe 80 % of them quit overnight. And your school
stayed intact. And you didn't tell me. I didn't
lose it. And you didn't tell me. I didn't tell
you. I'll remind you how that went down. Our
preschool teachers completely stayed intact.
Maybe we lost water too, but they were more,
they were with us from the beginning, so they
were already more, you know, aligned. So I don't
know if you remember, but I was furiously doing
interviews. You remember that? Nonstop. I did
not tell you because I didn't. You know, a podcast.
Podcast. Yes. Speaking engaged. Yes. I did not
want to freak you out. You would have freaked
me out. I probably would have been angry. You
would have freaked me out and wouldn't have helped
me be able to do what I needed to do. So I'm
like, okay, hopefully nobody mentions anything
to him. I'm just going to hunker down and I'm
going to do as many interviews and speaking engagements
as I can. So that way, hopefully there are amazing
teachers out there who actually were fired because
they didn't want to get the shot and they're
going to want to come work for us. And that's
what happened. There were a lot of amazing teachers
from New York and California. who saw me speaking,
saw me on a podcast, and they were like, can
we relocate? Because we did not want to get the
show off. And there were great, smart, intelligent
teachers. And there were some teachers, they
were pro -vaxxers, but they just did not want
to be forced to get something that they didn't
know what it was. Just the fact that their boss
was going to force them to get a medical drug.
when their boss knows nothing about their body.
Like, they're like, just, like, who are you to
force me to get a drug? You're not a doctor.
And so literally with a lot of prayers, because
I was praying hard multiple times a day, and
nonstop interviews, we were able to play every
role. You were furiously busy that summer, and,
um... I found out later what you were doing.
And that's like a Hail Mary. You know, I really,
really hope this strategy works because I don't
have a plan B. There was no plan B. When I think
about it. Right. What was plan B? They were trashing
me. I had to speak in front of people who understood
me because I knew their audience might resonate
with what I'm saying. And really alternative
media and these. podcasts and these alternative
stations are what my people are listening to
right and so like speaking at these events these
large events right that's where i was hopeful
i've seen so many standing ovations for your
speeches it's like it's like beautiful i'm so
proud of you so anyway um So, and something remarkable
happened with the parent community. Yeah. What
happened? Yeah. So, I mean, we had an influx
that summer of families from all over the world
who resonated with what I was saying and saw
me being blasted. Blasted. Blasted. And they
were like, why are they blasting her? Like, I
admire her for standing up for what's right.
And I admire her for protecting our kids. And
I haven't been brave enough to do what she's
doing. But knowing the fact that there's someone
out there who's willing to stand up against authority
to protect kids, that's where I want my kids
going. You know, I was on the receiving end by
request of all of the inbound emails from people
around the world who... felt the need to say
something. And out of the thousands and thousands,
the ratio is probably like four to one, favorable
to unfavorable. Really? Yeah. It was really,
you know, it kept me going. It kept you going
and kept a lot of us going. The phone would ring
at the school and our poor receptionist would
answer these phones and get blasted with the
most despicable things that people can say, you
know. People would write horrific things about
us, you know. The local newspaper printed a picture
of our personal residence, right? So that made
us really alarmed, you know. That freaked me
out. That freaked you out. Now all of a sudden,
you know, we increased security, if you remember,
from two to four, 24 hours. Thank goodness we
live in Florida. Huge rifles. You know, warning
signs on our gate saying, if you enter, you will
be shot. You know, I didn't understand why they
posted our house. Like, it's almost like, it's
almost like they couldn't cancel us, so they
were going to try and get crazy people to hurt
us. That's what it felt like. Like, they didn't
succeed in canceling us. But they wanted people
to hurt us. And fortunately, they took down the
address. But still, it was up for a couple days.
That's right. And it really never leaves. That's
right. You probably still could find it to the
day. I mean, this is why we sold that house.
Yes. Because we were like, you know, this is
no longer safe. Didn't feel safe any longer.
Yeah. That was tough. That was really like a
stab in the heart. But again, I knew. You know,
I know if we just stayed in integrity, stayed
in our truth, and again, we weren't doing anything
reckless. We were analyzing the other side. We
were analyzing the data. We were talking to very
intelligent doctors, very intelligent critical
thinkers. And I think the biggest thing I got
from this was, you know, we're teaching our kids
at Settler Academy to be critical thinkers, to
be problem solvers, to not be sheep and aimlessly
follow. I had to lead by example during that
time. And what I want from our kids is what I
needed to be, which was a critical thinker, a
problem solver, and most importantly, not walk
around aimlessly like a sheep just following
orders that could potentially be hurting people
under my supervision. So should we fast forward
to round two now? Yeah, but before we fast forward,
you know, I do want to say something because...
You know, during this time, you remember I thought
a lot about the Holocaust. And I would say, you
know, how is this different than the Holocaust?
Like, there were good people doing bad things
because they were told to do it. Right? Mm -hmm.
When you have good people forcing things on other
people just because you were told. Does that
make it okay? Does that make you part of the
problem? You know? And all of these school leaders
who would watch these little kids running in
100 -degree heat with a mask. Outside. Outside.
You know it. They know it. You know in your heart
that was wrong. I can't believe they did it.
And they should be. asking these kids to forgive
them because they knew that it was wrong. They
would have done their research if they would
not have just aimlessly been following what the
government tells them to do. They could have
protected more kids. So many kids these days
are having lung issues because they've been breathing
in the cotton fiber, toxic fibers from the masks
nonstop. Emotional issues. Emotional issues,
speech delays. depression, ADHD, all of these
numbers are significantly on the rise. And so,
you know, I just hope that people that saw me
stand up... Actually, it did happen. There were
a lot of school owners that did decide to stand
up because they saw what I did. And I would just
hope that next time something like this happens,
more adults will stand up to protect our kids.
When were you canceled on social media? I got
my Instagram back quite late. Yeah. Layla Settner,
if anybody wants to re -follow me. Jeez, I think
I was canceled two years ago and finally all
of a sudden it reappeared. Out of the blue. Out
of the blue. For no reason. No reason. Yeah.
Did you have a lowest moment at all? Did you
ever question your business acumen? I had a lowest
moment when I sung. When I saw a kid crying because
their parents wanted to pull them out of the
school because of my crazy views. And it was
one of the families that I avoided their contract
because of the masking. And then there was actually
a few kids because of my stance on COVID. And
they wanted to be there. They wanted to be with
their friends. And they knew they weren't coming
back the next year. And a couple of them gave
me big hugs, and we cried together. But, you
know, every parent is in charge of their kids,
and if they didn't feel our school is a safe
place, no matter how much these kids love their
friends or love their environment, they were
going to go with it. You know, we all have our
own journeys in life, but when you're a kid,
it's not. completely your journey so much. Your
parents are going to kind of dictate your journey
to a large extent until you're much older. My
heart goes out to them as well because parents
sometimes don't make the best decision. Us too,
we don't make the right decision every single
time. Everyone's going to make a mistake or they're
going to be adamant about one thing. I have had
many parents reach out to me post that have apologized.
Really? You know, I've had parents who have left
but have called me back saying, like, hey, that
you were crazy, that you were right, my mom died
after she took the shot, or, you know, I've developed
this issue or that issue, and now we're seeing
a lot more data that's come out. And it's like,
look, I wasn't trying to be right. I just wanted
to protect the kids. It was always about... How
are you a different person now? than you were
before all of this controversy happened in your
life? I think it really forced me to have to
go deep within. And even though we already were
on our journey of our meditation and just learning
how to self -regulate well and making that the
foundation of our school, I think this was the
ultimate test of that. Because in the beginning,
I was very angry. Yeah. Very angry. Like, I just
couldn't understand how so many adults could
let this happen. And I was just fueled with anger.
And that anger wasn't helping me or anybody around
us. It wasn't helping you. It wasn't helping
our kids. It was just, it wasn't making this
world a better place. And so it wasn't until
I learned how to really calm that space and go
from a place of compassion. that instead of being
angry, they don't know what they don't know,
and I'm going to at least try and provide that
other side so people can make intelligent decisions
and realize that we're all on our own journeys
and that you can't force somebody to see things
your way. All you can do is do the best that
you can to give that information so they can
make an informed decision. But I think more than
anything, I feel like it strengthened my soul.
You know, like I felt like my soul was weaker.
And having to navigate through all of that just
really strengthened me. And you know, I think
things that happen to us in the world, like anybody,
it can either make you stronger or break you
down. We all have a choice. What are we going
to do with it? Are we going to let it break us
down? Or are we going to allow it to strengthen
our soul? And the more we can look at any situation
that hurts at the time and say, you know what,
God, I know you're strengthening my soul. It
hurts at the moment, but there's some lessons
I need to learn from this. And I'm going to navigate
this the best that I can and lick my wounds when
I get up. Then life will feel more like, challenges
will feel more like opportunities. You know?
Obstacles will feel more like gifts. Is there
a message for these unnamed, unfaced people who
tried to cancel you? Anything you would want
to say to them? I want to say, do your research.
Do more research. Don't just listen to the data
that you're told on one side. Look at both sides.
If this were truly a pandemic where... 10 % of
the people were dying, we would have acted different.
But the data showed 99 .97 % were fine. All of
these decisions didn't need to be made. And it
wasn't just for a few months. I mean, California,
New York, it was like two years. They were still
masking, still mandating. I think the big lesson
is, especially, you know, I mean, a lot of people
in the media, they're doing what their boss tells
them to do. But there are a lot of good people
in the media that actually broke out of traditional
media and they went into alternative media because
they were like, I'm not going to be told to lie.
And I think I have compassion for people that
are in a job. that are told to lie and they continue
to lie. But hopefully more people in the media
break away and do the right thing. Or if they
really believe these lies, you know, hopefully
they'll start to be a little bit more curious.
Like you were. You were curious when I was talking
to you. You started to be more and more curious.
Like, okay, this is interesting. Tell me more.
If we're curious as a society, we won't be able
to get duped so easily because that curiosity
will lead to asking more and more questions.
When people call people like me and they called
you the same thing, a conspiracy theorist, why?
Just because we don't believe in the nonsense
you're spewing? That makes us a conspiracy theorist?
It's such a term that's really meant to shut
people down. It's meant to get people to think
in the same way because if you think differently,
You're labeled. And if more people step outside
of that, especially mainstream media, you know,
we're just going to have a lot freer of a society
because the media just has so much control and
so much power. And I think it's important when
you have that much power to do the right thing.
So what's the status of the school? Doing amazing.
Tell me. Got three buildings, over 330 students.
I had told you at the time we dropped from 280
to 70 or 80. They're back. We're beyond back.
Three buildings now. Great faculty. A lot of
little kids. Great families. A lot of little
kids. Opened high school. Great. Show will open
11. It's going great. And do you have any advice
for other people who might... Be victims of cancellation.
The first thing is to have faith. Pray, meditate,
whatever helps ground you, center you. And know
that if you're truly standing in your truth and
you're standing for something that's bigger than
you, know that it will always turn out in the
right direction as long as you're doing the right
thing. And persevere. Be strong. And most importantly,
don't be afraid just because you have a bunch
of bullies that are trying to get you to back
down and crawl under a table. It's really, really
beautiful. I think what, yes, you were angry
in the beginning. And I had a hard time hearing
you when you were angry. And I think that's natural.
I think what you said is very true. People can
find their peace, even though it just seems just
horrific, the things that are going around them.
Just do whatever you need to do to find your
peace. You'll be smarter, you'll make better
decisions, and people will be able to hear you.
So when you need to do things, the world will
suddenly maybe hopefully start to move in your
direction. You know, you remind me of Rosa Parks.
A lot. And I don't know if you remember the story,
Rosa Parks, Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. The buses
were segregated. Black people were only allowed
to sit in the rear of the bus. And when they
would enter the bus, they would pay for their
ticket. And then they would have to actually
get out of the bus and go back to the rear entry
entrance and get on the bus that way. And so
just like you, Rosa Parks, this was not a controversy
that happened in a moment. There was a lot of
stuff that happened before then. And she had
gotten on the bus, got off to go to the rear,
and the bus driver just pulled away. And she's
like, I'm never, this was like many, many years
before that big incident. She's like, I'm never,
ever going to go on that bus with this guy ever
again. So she said she did a lot of walking in
Montgomery, Alabama. And one day she decided,
you know what, this is ridiculous. I'm getting
on the bus. And the policy was if the white person's
section was taken up, then they can start to
encroach on the black person's section and the
black people would have to stand up. It's just
so wrong. It's so wrong. And she refused to get
up. And that's what, that's just, it lit a spark.
And I see a lot of parallels with you. You see
silliness. You see bad intentions. You see profiteering,
you know, self -servicing. And you see it really,
really clearly, you know. And I really admire
you for that. I wish I had the ability to see
like you do. But I'm going to step behind you
in many ways. You open my eyes. You're a step
above me in many ways. We balance each other.
Sure, we do balance each other. Really, this
is going to be so much fun doing this podcast
with you. I think that we're uniquely qualified
to do this podcast. And I welcome the opportunity
for anybody out there who themselves has experienced
cancellation, who thinks that this might be a
really good forum for you to get on and share
your story. This is a unique opportunity to get
your side of the story out. And we will be empathetic,
and maybe we'll throw some fastballs in there,
but it will be an opportunity to get your story
out.